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Guide to Buying Heels: Part 2

Monday April 11, 2005 

Fit

Poorly fitted high heels can quickly cause blisters, bunions, calluses, corns, etc. These foot problems can become so painful that one must give up wearing high heels. So, precautions should be taken to prevent these foot problems before they happen.

For ages, many women have been wearing shoes that are a size smaller than their feet, based on a misconception or misunderstanding of the saying small feet are sexier looking. The saying is in fact true, but is based on miniature feet and can be traced back to ancient folklore in China, around 950 A.D.. There was a beautiful young women with lotus feet that were about 4 or 5 inches in length. However, small U.S. women’s size 5 feet are 9 inches in length, which is over 4 inches longer than the miniature lotus feet.

The fact is one half size or one full size (which is only a quarter of an inch) makes almost no difference at all in appearance. Moreover, with high heels, the difference between one full size is impossible to tell with the naked eye. Also, longer feet enable one to walk better in high heels, especially the higher 5, 6, and 7 inch heels. The longer the high heel wearer’s feet are, the happier she should be.

All shoes should be slightly bigger (at least 1/8 of an inch) than each foot. Refer to a ruler to see how much this really is. One should never buy a pair that is tight (even the teeny-weenie bit tight) anywhere because they will bruise her feet and cause unnecessary pain and problems, including painful bursitis and Haglund’s back of the heel deformity. If one ever hears the fact that *leather stretches*, she should ignore it. By the time one finishes stretching a pair of tight fitting leather shoes, she will have suffered a number of foot problems and lots of pain.

On the other hand, shoes that are too big or loose can put extra strain on the ankles and will not look right on the feet. Just imagine them looking like mommy’s shoes being worn by a little girl. They also have the same additional negative effect on the heels that mules do (discussed below).

One should always shop for shoes at the end of the day and after walking around for several minutes. This is when the feet are all swelled up and near their largest size. The only other time the feet are usually bigger is when one is flying in an airplane or in places at higher altitudes.

If one buys in a brick and mortar shoe store, it is best to always ask for and try on the three closest sizes to her feet. (For example, if one normally wears size 7, then she should try on sizes 6 1/2, 7, and 7 1/2.) The smallest size should feel tight. The largest size should feel very loose. The middle size should feel best, but they must be slightly bigger than each foot. Otherwise, go with the larger size. One should never buy any pair of shoes that is the slightest bit tight on either foot.

One should get both her right foot and left foot measured. Lots of people have a right foot that is of different size than their left foot. This is a fact that one usually finds out from custom shoe makers.

If one has feet of different sizes, she can get away with flats, but not with high heels. She may need to buy two pairs of high heel shoes or boots. One pair should have a right shoe that fits properly and the second pair should have left shoe that fits properly. It is well worth doing this. It is cheaper to pay for the extra pair of shoes, than to pay for all of the foot supplies to treat foot problems, visits to a podiatrist, as well as suffer lots of pain. Again, it is almost impossible to tell the differences in a few shoe sizes with high heels. Also, one can scratch off size markings on the shoes or cover them with a black “permanent marker pen (available in stores like Kmart and Walmart), if desired.

Also, if the width of one’s feet is anything other than B (or medium), she will have a very hard time finding high heels. Almost all high heels come in B (or medium) width only. She will have to deal with a limited selection of shoes. The best bet is to visit very large shoe stores, that carry multiple widths for their shoe selections. One can also try mail-order and the Internet shoe businesses that sell shoes with the “WIDE” width option. If one has A (or narrow) width, she may also want to check out shoes from Fredericks of Hollywood. Some of their B width shoes are actually closer to A width. If all fails, there are always custom shoe makers (who unfortunately are very hard to find. See Appendix A), to get proper width shoes. Thick foot cushions can also be used to take up extra space in width.

One will waste money on any shoe that is too tight or too loose, even if she loves the style. If one shops around year after year, she should be able to find plenty of high heels that she likes and fit well.

Filed Under High Heels

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One Response to “Guide to Buying Heels: Part 2”

  1. Niner Niner Sandbox » Blog Archive » Massively Multiposter Best of Niner Niner Roundup, ‘05 on April 13th, 2005 7:33 pm

    [...] d boyfriends), Nandini has posted her Guide to Buying Heels - Part 3. See also part 1 and part 2. Sarah White on Medcare Forum discusses alternative medicine: [...]

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